Cleaning the cottage

Drove to farm for quick trip to clean the cottage before Margaret's cousins arrive. Broke the frame to the large window (the one I screwed shut because I should never be opened). Mostly getting rid of dusk and cobwebs and putting up hammock. 

 

Brickspo

 After some great buys at the Schumiater estate sale, we headed out to Moose Jaw for Brickspo. Great Lego displays. Loved that a number of Regina downtown buildings were reconstructed including the Federal Building, which is William's favorite. The bakery Geremy recommended was already out of donuts when we went. Next time it will have to be first on the agenda instead of last. There was a huge storm as we left town and I needed to white knuckle drive for the first 10 minutes to escape it. 

Pie in the sky

 Margaret has been baking lots of pie. It probably isn't good for me to eat pie every day, but they are so good that I cannot not eat them every day. She's trying to get clouds to work in the pattern to be "pie in the sky". 

Prerecored Q&A

 Did a pre-recorded question and answer session for 8Fest over zoom. We'd not seen each other's films so the questions all came from the curator/facilitator. I was asked about my cat and this threw me off so much that I just rambled for a minute and said nothing clever. I'm totally embarrassed. This is the worst Q&A I've done in years. 

Still home with covid

My covid tests are still positive. This is day 11 since my first positive test. Nurse says my immune suppressant could result in this being 20 days rather than the 10 most people expect. Anyway, I've painted the last unpainted "camera" in the house: this time a Lego toy. Also noticed that one of my new guppies died. William hung out with me and the cat all day. Now that Dark Shadows is done, we are starting to catch up on some Lovecraft based movies that are on Tubi. 

 

Painting

 Finding some momentum. This is actually an empty case from a disposable camera. Inside had been a tiny diorama, probably assembled by Gerda in the early 90s, but which has rattled out of position and is just a jumble now. 

Back to painting

 Last summer I somehow found the time to paint almost every day. This year seems more difficult. I don't have more distractions (possibly less), but I think there is a different dynamic in the house this summer making creative time a greater challenge to eke out. Also, I've got less cameras on  hand. 

Mom negative

Mom tested negative yesterday. I'm a day or two behind her so she think that means I will be negative today (I'm not). She brought a cake that she didn't follow the recipe on (unfortunate).

Dark Shadows complete

One of the things William did as a covid project, which we didn't realize was going to be a covid project, was to watch the 1966-1971 soap opera series "Dark Shadows". I never made note of when we started. I think it was likely before covid, possibly December 2019 or January 2020. There are 1245 episodes, which were originally aired Monday to Friday (22 minutes each) without breaks. We just finished it. There are a couple movies they made concurrent to the series that we've not seen yet, as well as a half season reboot in 1991 that we'll also watch soon. 

Garden shed

 The garden shed has become the dumping ground for stuff over the past decade but even worse since the garage fire. We emptied it out completely and sorted stuff. many things, especially kid's stuff, were given away to Geremy and Gerri Ann. For such a small building, it sure held a lot. Looked like a garage sale once we emptied. it. 

White paint on eyes for screaming banana croquet hoop mostly faded leaving a psychedelic wood grain pattern. 

Removing nails

 I spent much of the day removing nails from the garage's old cedar shingles so that we can more easily stack and move them. Sure are lots. Good kindling. 

Saskatoon picking

We drove out to a place about an hour away, almost at Weyburn, and picked 6 gallons of saskatoon berries. Taste and juiciness are excellent. 
 

Visit dad

 It's been days since we visited dad. Mom and I are no longer required to isolate so we went there and saw him, wished him a happy birthday, and hung out for 10 minutes. Most people said hi, but the nurse eventually said that we were not supposed to visit yet, even though she didn't have a clear set of guidelines and policy over the issue. We left. Dad seemed disappointed. 

Returned home

 

Today is the fifth day since I first had symptoms, which is the point they say you are no longer highly contagious. I've come home. Margaret and William, while they have continued to test negative, have been having symptoms. My new guppies have not noticed I've been gone. I replaced the tank with a new one last week (forgot to blog it). Still have one old fish from the swarm (call him Swarmy). 

Crazy weather

The view of the weather from mom's balcony is great. She faces out into a park so there is complete view of the sky. Mosquitoes can come up here but this week they are not. While the day is cool, it is a good place to read. 

 

care package and visit

 Margaret and William brought me some extra supplies (and ice cream) and we sat out in the care home gazebo. 

Storm lights up sky

Talked to Margaret and watched the sky. Without exaggerating, I could see lightning every five seconds for about 10 solid minutes while I watched. I recorded 3 minutes but this is a just a sample of that. 

Covid positive

 Having tested positive, I went to stay with mom to protect Margaret and William from me. Mom could use the company as she can't go out to visit dad and other people. Packed some clothes but, more importantly, all my streaming services passwords. 

Replaced Fire Pit

 Found a replacement fire pit at Princess Auto the other day and assembled it today. 

Thor

 This morning mom came over to get help with her covid test. She tested positive and I tested negative. Close contact. I masked the rest of the day and kept to myself in the gazebo. However, I did follow through with our plan to see the new Thor movie with June and Tom. Afterwards I went home (separate car) and left them to do stuff together without me. Started feeling poorly. 

Electric motor

 Ceiling fan motor in bathroom wearing out again. The only place I knew to fix it was Capital Electric which, when I first discovered them, impressed me. They were one of those nutty places with a range of new and old devices strewn everywhere and a head guy who seemed to be an expert in everything. However, the last time I went there, they were off their nuts with anti-vax posters everywhere. When I showed up there today, the sign on the door indicated that they were closed because they were crazy (no, that isn't what it says, but you can read between the lines yourself). I hit the phone book and found Adlo Electronics where their guy replaced the motor while I waited, no hassle. He says that Capital electric closed in August after a bunch of the staff quit.  

June arrives

Picked up June and Tom at airport, got them installed at the Dragon B&B, then joined everyone else for lunch at the Ngoc Van. Erik and Julia leave tomorrow. Geremy and Ellen were there (might be their anniversary). Dropped June off to play pinball and went to MacKenzie. 

Managed to get John Hampton and Julia connected for a short talk. They have met on zoom before, but Julia hadn't met him face to face. 

 Supper, William went to Emma's and I went to Houston Pizza with June, Tom, and Grant. Fire afterwards. 

Full day.

Dad has covid

Went to try to visit dad. Mom was there with him and they'd just had covid tests at the care home. Mom was negative but dad is positive. 

Erik and garage sale continue

 Erik looks great in his father's suits. Most don't fit. Regardless, I hope he takes a bunch of them and has them sized. 

He gave William a bunch of Lego including the Steven Spielberg set. 

Tie rack

Erik and Julia hosted Erik's mom's garage sale this weekend. I picked a bunch of things, many that I didn't need, but what young man does not need a tie rack? I installed it in William's closet immediately.  

 

Erik and Julia and Weird Al in town

 Erik Sirke and Julia Sutherland arrived in Regina yesterday. Erik has a load of family things to do but I convinced them to come do William's radio show this morning. I think it is a good episode. They got out a Ouiji Board and communicated telepathically with Garfield. 

Late in the afternoon, Lara reached out to say that she'd got a bunch of comps to the VIP at Weird Al concert at the Centre of the Arts this evening, so William was off to that concert. Came back with signed merch. Erik and Julia came to the Dunlop opening and we all headed to out yard afterwards. Erik's sister was at the Rider game so she and her boyfriend also came over when the game ended (to get their ride home). Once Lara and all the boys arrived, it expanded into a completely impromptu party. 

Future pinhole?

 Painted the obtuse top only view of this box camera from Carinne. Noticing that the top viewfinder didn't have a clear image, I then noticed that the lens is missing from the camera. I suppose it could modify into a pinhole camera easily then...